Perché quel che mi trasse ad amar prima,
altrui colpa mi toglia,
del mio fermo voler già non mi svoglia.
Tra le chiome de l’òr nascose il laccio,
al qual mi strinse, Amore;
et da’ begli occhi mosse il freddo ghiaccio,
che mi passò nel core,
con la vertú d’un súbito splendore,
che d’ogni altra sua voglia
sol rimembrando anchor l’anima spoglia.
Tolta m’è poi di que’ biondi capelli,
lasso, la dolce vista;
e ’l volger de’ duo lumi honesti et belli
col suo fuggir m’atrista;
ma perché ben morendo honor s’acquista,
per morte né per doglia
non vo’ che da tal nodo Amor mi scioglia.
Petrarca, Canzoniere 59
English translation
Though another's fault takes me away
from what drew me to my first bitterness,
I am not moved from my fixed desire.
Love hid the noose he caught me with
among that golden hair:
and cold ice came from those lovely eyes
that passed into my heart,
with the power of a sudden splendour,
that, merely remembering it, all other wishes
are driven from my soul.
Alas, since then, the sweet sight of that blonde hair
has been taken from me:
and the vanishing of those two true and lovely eyes
has saddened me with their flight:
but since dying well brings us honour,
despite grief or death,
I do not wish Love to loose me from this knot.
Italian text
English translation